Chief of the General Staff says FSA join forces with regular Syrian troops

Russia sends firearms and ammunition for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), said Chief of the General Staff of Russia’s Armed Forces Valeriy Gerasimov (Interfax-Ukraine).

According to the Russian official, FSA units that oppose Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, with total strength of 5,000 men, join efforts with regular Syrian troops for joint offensive operations in provinces of Homs, Hama, Aleppo and al-Raqqa.

“The number of FSA units grows constantly. Russian military aircraft make from 30 to 40 airstrikes every day to support them. The Armed Forces also provide assistance with weapons, ammunition and material materiel supply”, Gerasimov said.

Previously, Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that combat effectiveness of the Russian Air Force wing in Syria “is useful for joining forces of both government troops and the Free Syrian Army”. Later, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov commented on this sentence, saying Russia didn’t supply weapons to the Free Syrian Army, but merely provided supplies in the frameworks of technical and military cooperation with Syria.